The present invention relates to a cooking area cover panel to be applied separately.
Glass ceramic cooking areas are used very widely. They are relatively sensitive and require special care. To protect a glass ceramic cooking area when not in use, a cooking area cover panel such as that disclosed in German Utility Model 298 13 303 U1 may be used. Such a cover panel is made of a hard, scratch-resistant material, especially glass. Accordingly, the panel material is relatively brittle. Therefore, there is the risk that the cooking area cover panel when being used, for example, when placing a heavy object, such as a large cooking pot etc., carelessly on it, can shatter or at least break into individual pieces. The fragments can cause injuries, so there is a not insignificant risk of injury and accidents.
Cooking area cover panels are also known for other cooking areas, i.e., metal cooking areas with individually installed electric cooking plates, for example, or gas cooking areas with individually installed gas burners. The same considerations apply here as those discussed previously.
The problem on which the present invention is based is to provide a cooking area cover panel that will minimize the above-mentioned risks and hazards while permitting simple and reliable handling.
This object is achieved by a cooking area cover panel that is to be applied separately for a cooking area. The cooking area cover panel is produced of a substantially breaking-resistant material and has a safety film on at least one flat surface of the cooking area cover panel. The safety film is configured such that in the event of a fracture of the cooking area cover panel the safety film essentially holds the fragments together.
A basic idea of the present invention is to provide the cooking area cover panel with a safety film. In particular, the safety film is applied by gluing or is self-adhesive.
The safety film preferably consists of plastic. Such a safety film is available as an inexpensive material.
The safety film is preferably arranged on or applied to the underside of the cooking area cover panel, i.e., to the flat side of the cooking area cover panel facing the cooking area. This has the advantage that without requiring an extremely high thermal stability of the safety film, relatively hot objects such as cooking pots can be placed on the top side of the cooking area cover panel without causing any heating that would be critical for the safety film.